Knowing your place

Teaote, Marita, Cassandra and Lucy speak about their place in the maneaba.

Teaote: There are positions right around the maneaba and these positions have meanings. When we live in the village, in your house, you're just about equal to everyone around you, right? Once you go into the maneaba you have a status.

Marita: It represents community and ancestral ties and elder respect, but it’s also where villages govern from. And so it’s where decisions are made for the community and democracy happens because everyone is at their posts and that’s where decisions are made in the maneaba.

Cassandra: When I said to mum, what did Grandma teach you, and she goes, ‘this is your allocated spot.’ So all the families come together under the maneaba for special events.

Lucy: Yeah, entertainment or something.

Cassandra: So every family has their own allocation inside the maneaba. And is that forever? Like always, it never changes? Lucy: It never changes, yeah.

Cassandra: So it’s passed down by each generation, so that’s where you stay. ‘Cause Mum said, ‘that’s my spot. That’s what Grandma taught us.’ And if we sit in another family’s allocation, they’ll say, ‘oh sorry, you're not supposed to sit here, you’re meant to, that’s your…‘ you know, obviously politely, but it’s all about coming together in that sense.